Either that, or second-hand retailers could do what they've always done and inspect visually for scratches and guarantee used games to work, thereby still making scads of cash and not forking over a dime (which they shouldn't) to the original developer/publisher.
This is a non-issue because there's nothing special about games that should allow them to retain any sort of ownership over a product that they've sold. If used game sales cut heavily into the profit margins of developing and selling games, then they'll simply have to cut costs, develop fewer/better games, etc. If the industry can't be sustained as it is then it will fail and something else will take its place. God, I love capitalism...
Even though you're AC I'll clarify: I was referring to whether or not it would hold up once challenged on [Federal] constitutional grounds. I'm sure it could pass in their state...I'm actually sure it could pass in many states, and not just the one's that tend to go elephant. But, even more specific, "better" laws have been struck down by judicial review..
The "later" areas, after the highway but before laping back around to start, were entirely free of product placement.
This is most likely because Sega charged per game location. That's certainly how I'd handle it, though I would charge more for the early locations and less for the ones late in the game (I'm sure many, many people never got past the early areas in that game).
Thus, while I wouldn't want violent VGs marked as porn, we do want/need some sort of effective rating system.
We do have such a rating system. Hell, I'm 33, huge with a bushy beard and a register monkey at Target tried to card me when buying an M-rated game - probably because he thought it was funny, but the important thing is that the register stopped him and reminded him that the game had a "not for little kids" rating.
These videogame laws are attempting to criminalize something which I don't think should be criminal. In fact, in the case of Utah the result of their law (if it held up, which it won't) would be to make it a felony for a parent to let their minor child play GTA3 or Medal of Honor. The article doesn't contain the actual text of the amendment, but if it's as vague as they say an adult could go to jail for showing Serenity to a 17-year-old, let alone giving them a copy of Call of Duty. The Iowa law is hardly better since someone would have to determine on a case-by-case basis which games would cause a violation and the "offender" would still end up with a friggin' criminal record.
These legislators are just trying to get publicity. I doubt they truly give a rat's ass about videogame content or they would recognize that the ESRB sets some good guidelines and at least reference those standards when constructing their patently unconstitutional laws...
They should. At least then we'd have to suffer only one saccharine sweet ending to a particular story.
I love Futurama but they often emulated the early Simpsons habit of ending each episode with an "awwwww" moment that, to me, didn't fit at all with the rest of the show. The ones that particularly bother me are the "Fry wants Leela" episodes which could be really funny and silly, only to end like they constituted a tragic tale of ill-fated romance. And, let's face it, the main reason Fry wants to be with Leela is because the only three women he knows are Leela, Amy and the old lady from the bus station.
I can't speak to the details of this deal, nor would I personally have any faith in this particular company which has so far taken a lot of money, made a lot of promises and sold exactly nothing.
That said, the idea of a "living room" gaming device for a PC that retains the functionality of a mouse/keyboard combination is a good one. With the increasing proliferation of high-definition television sets, it's looking better and better for the PC being hooked up to the same display as DVD players, game consoles, etc. It's going to be particularly compelling as the [true] 1920x1080 displays come down in price and become more common (Costco has already sold 37" LCD displays at this resolution for about $1,500 which is a nice size at a nice price). Even a 720p (1280x720) screen offers enough resolution for most gamers, especially when new games often force a resolution drop because of video card limitations.
Again, I don't have first-hand knowledge of the "Phantom" controller but it was the one thing that the people who did attend Infinium demos agreed was a solid product.
Oddly enough, I frequented that forum back then (assuming you're referring to the same incident a couple [few?] years back) and, in fact, was banned for a short time because I took a shot at Kara and chose my words poorly. The fundamental difference to my mind was that I was actually responding to something she did or said (it's been so long I don't remember the details) and wasn't just trying to be an asshole.
I actually thought about that after I wrote the above post and realized that I probably should have mentioned it "in the interest of full disclosure." It just didn't occur to me right away because I find the two instances to be very different, and, of course, in that long-ago incident I wasn't talking "behind [anyone's] back" - just as now, my name (both handle and real) is right there. Ill admit, though, that my horse is not too very high and my home, though mostly solid, has plenty of glass.
Re:The funniest thing about penny-arcade EVER is..
on
Penny Arcade Speaks at MIT
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· Score: 4, Insightful
It's one thing to take potshots at satirists who have demonstrated they're always up for a fight and often do assholish (but IMO funny) bits in their comics. It's quite another to take shots at their wives. The fact that the above people who did so posted anonymously shows cowardice, though maybe it shows shame as well which would at least indicate the presence of some kind of conscience. In any case, it's completely uncool.
Both the article and the summary are poorly worded. As I understood it, Cliffy was making the point that games are expensive compared to the books, movies, etc. In other words, he wasn't the one saying that gamers need to pay more.
Whatever happened to any publicity=good publicity?
What happened is that big companies have a constant publicity trickle all the time, so they really don't need outsiders "helping" them with the process. In this case, Wizard has a policy regarding how cards are revealed prior to an expansion hitting store shelves. If they thought it was a good idea to reveal more and do it earlier, they'd do it themselves. Thus, if someone is crapping on their business plan, they're going to get pissed. One negative result might be that their fans get all the information far earlier than usual and end up less excited about the product when it finally comes to market - "Oh, yeah, I remember those cards from a sneak preview last year. Are they finally coming out?"
Another big business example: McDonald's is publicized nearly everywhere, nearly all the time. They pay big money for radio spots, billboards, TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc. They have no need for extra national publicity about a new hamburger they're going to start selling in six months; they've already got a marketing plan ready to implement. All that an early revelation can accomplish is to a) dilute the eventual interest in their new product and/or b) allow a competitor to release a similar product earlier.
"To turn off my TV installation would mean separately switching off the television itself, the video recorder, the DVD player and the digital TV decoder.""...although in an average week I watch less than one hour's television."
Why would someone who averages less than an hour per week of television need all those devices, much less find it inconvenient to turn them off and on? And then on top of that, you're thinking about buying a new TV? Something's wrong there...
Relax. This same AC troll (at least according to posting pattern and writing style) has been posting an anti-360 rant in every "next-gen" topic. I've come to find him pretty entertaining, especially since the posts aren't just cut&paste jobs like the "Netcraft says BSD is dead" stuff.:)
I'll probably buy all three, but it seems like a long shot to me that Microsoft will pull ahead of Sony if the PS3 manages to hit store shelves before June.
What are the chances of Sony hitting the market in the second quarter? I haven't seen a single report of a hands-on PS3 experience (meaning press demos), something that one would expect several months before the console hits the market. As far as I know, there still hasn't even been a picture of the finalized controller that was supposedly undergoing revision due to the extreme distaste people had for the boomerang-type controllers we've seen before. I know that the speculation has been that the console will release in Japan this spring but without any news from Sony I wonder more and more if that isn't a pipe dream.
I guess it doesn't matter that much to me since I don't buy consoles at launch time anyway due to the combination of price and inevitably sparse game selection. I didn't even buy a DS until Meteos came out and that system was [obviously] tiny in cost compared to these fancypants new home consoles.
I was heavily into Commodore 64 gaming back then but I bought a Nintendo because I saw Dragon Warrior at a friend's house. I bought a Nintendo and Dragon Warrior, finished the game twice, then immediately got rid of the NES. I loved that game but the Commodore kept me too busy to consider keeping the Nintendo and letting it gather dust.:)
If my government "suggested" I stay inside with the intent of putting me under house arrest (as opposed to suggesting I stay inside during some kind of actual emergency) without the benefit of trial, of course I'd still step outside and, no, I wouldn't we be afraid. This is because I'm not worried that government agents are going to shoot me, beat me or imprison me if they're so unconcerned that they aren't bothering to initiate legal proceedings.
When folks like you make comments like that, it confirms my opinion that fully subsidized psychiatric care should be priority number one when it comes to health care...
A and men. Slashdotters use phrases like "groupthink," "Joe Six-Pack" and the like, usually pretending that they aren't insulting people. Using the word "groupthink" in this context implies that people who like Firefly only feel that way because "everyone" on the Interweb says it's super cool.
Me, I'm one of those oddities who liked the show from the first episode aired despite Fox showing episodes out of order. Then again, I also liked Friends which it seemed like every tool on the Interweb hammered constantly. So, I wonder where I would fit in with the supposed "groupthink" regarding television?
It's all part of what has become a generally accepted mode of thinking by many who talk about entertainment on ye olden Interweb: "I thought [insert videogame/movie/music/etc. here] sucked, and anyone who liked it sucks."
I've got to admire your dedication, Mr. AC. You manage to post an anti-Xbox [360] rant in every topic about next-generation consoles, and they're not all cut&paste jobs. You're still a trolling tool, but at least you're making a real effort!
I doubt Microsoft or Apple would support XP on an Intel Mac anyway.
Why? This is the question I've been asking myself while reading this topic: Why shouldn't Microsoft release a version of Windows specifically designed to run on Intel-based Mac products (dual-booting automagically), with full support for games, hardware, etc.? After all, Microsoft doesn't make any money when Intel or AMD sells a chip; they make money when someone sells a PC with Windows installed. And, presumably, they wouldn't have to change the base Windows code significantly (if at all) to get it running so the cost (production - I'm sure it would sell at the same price as MCE) of this new product would be minimal.
Microsoft, in theory, shouldn't care on what system you're running Windows as long as you pay them money to do so. The only "good" reason they wouldn't make Windows for a Mac is if they have an agreement with Apple not to do so or (as was the case before now) if they considered the market too small and the PCs too different for development to be worthwhile.
Considering the fact that I've seen videos previewing WoW from 2001, I'd say the $50 price tag for the box is to recoup the 3+ years of development costs. The $15 per month is paying for server bandwidth and continued development on the game.
Nowhere in there do you mention profit, something I'm sure is present in both the box and subscription prices.:)
As you found out, there are indeed PCs out there being sold with no AGP or PCI-E slot. Another example is the [HP] Compaq lineup, while the HP-branded computers from the same company tend to have upgradeable graphics. I suspect you'd find similar results from any major manufacturer in their cheap PCs.
Really, though, it's probably a good idea for them since they often also ship these PCs with power supplies insufficient to drive a high-end graphics card. While folks might end up annoyed that they can't upgrade the graphics card, it might be even worse if they plugged a brand new card in and their system completely stopped working.
I just resisted the temptation to get very snarky. No applause, please; the warm feeling inside is enough.
Anyway, you're talking about top-of-the-line video cards, cards that are $300 to $500 when they're NOT sold by a company that places a premium on style and raises their prices accordingly. It's also worth noting that the x1600 chipset is going to run cooler than those you mentioned, which is vital for a small all-in-one (even the power supply is in there - no outboard brick) unit.
Anyone who buys an iMac knows that they're not getting a gaming powerhouse. If someone wanted a top-flight gaming PC s/he would buy an x86 system with a serious graphics card or, if a Mac aficionado, a PowerMac - perhaps holding off until the Intel chips get in the latter, on the off-chance that running Windows and getting THAT gaming goodness would be possible.
How can you assume that they would continue to be competitive throughout the next year? What if one makes a huge blunder and the other pulls ahead? What if one comes out with a great new product and thoroughly trounces the other's sales? If you knew they were going to remain competitive into the next year, you have foresight into the future that many would envy.
Apparently, you missed GP's point. Your "what if" questions could be turned into interesting and at least semi-specific predictions. As it stands, the idea that a strong #2 company is going to give the #1 company "fits" isn't really a prediction at all. Now, if AMD had been very weak in 2004 the prediction might have been interesting. As it is, it just comes off as filler.
A similar misunderstanding occurs on the RIAA issue. Nobody thought that the RIAA was suddenly going to stop filing lawsuits against copyright violators, thus Cringely's prediction is somewhere between obvious and completely pointless. Whether the RIAA should stop suing or not is another question altogether.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy Cringely's articles (when I can understand them - he sometimes goes off on minutiae in which I have little interest) and his predictions are usually entertaining. A lot of that comes from his writing skills, though, because some of his predictions (like the two discussed here) seem to have been written merely to extend the length of the article.
--spelling errors corrected in quote above because I ran a spellcheck and assumed the errors were mine, and I'm loathe to re-edit.:)
Could someone please mod me into oblivion? I read the article again (I thought I read it the first time) and, of course, it mentions Animal Crossing. I have GOT to get new eyeballs that read without skipping sentences.
I wonder why they don't mention Animal Crossing: Wild World? It's gone over 1.5 million in Japan alone and, unlike the non-Nintendogs titles in the article, AC is available in the US as well (apparently, despite the fact that I've visted AC towns in the UK, AC won't be officially released in the EU until March).
You're kidding, right? Gmail (yes, it's still "limited," in beta, but it's beyond easy to get hooked up) offers more storage and costs nothing. Yahoo! Mail offers a gig for free as well (you can get 2GB and POP access for $20/year).
I have no doubt that there are other features (particularly integration with commonly used Mac software) that are desirable, but paying $99 per year for the online storage is a terrible deal.
Slashdot Mirror
Either that, or second-hand retailers could do what they've always done and inspect visually for scratches and guarantee used games to work, thereby still making scads of cash and not forking over a dime (which they shouldn't) to the original developer/publisher.
This is a non-issue because there's nothing special about games that should allow them to retain any sort of ownership over a product that they've sold. If used game sales cut heavily into the profit margins of developing and selling games, then they'll simply have to cut costs, develop fewer/better games, etc. If the industry can't be sustained as it is then it will fail and something else will take its place. God, I love capitalism...
Even though you're AC I'll clarify: I was referring to whether or not it would hold up once challenged on [Federal] constitutional grounds. I'm sure it could pass in their state...I'm actually sure it could pass in many states, and not just the one's that tend to go elephant. But, even more specific, "better" laws have been struck down by judicial review..
The "later" areas, after the highway but before laping back around to start, were entirely free of product placement.
This is most likely because Sega charged per game location. That's certainly how I'd handle it, though I would charge more for the early locations and less for the ones late in the game (I'm sure many, many people never got past the early areas in that game).
Thus, while I wouldn't want violent VGs marked as porn, we do want/need some sort of effective rating system.
We do have such a rating system. Hell, I'm 33, huge with a bushy beard and a register monkey at Target tried to card me when buying an M-rated game - probably because he thought it was funny, but the important thing is that the register stopped him and reminded him that the game had a "not for little kids" rating.
These videogame laws are attempting to criminalize something which I don't think should be criminal. In fact, in the case of Utah the result of their law (if it held up, which it won't) would be to make it a felony for a parent to let their minor child play GTA3 or Medal of Honor. The article doesn't contain the actual text of the amendment, but if it's as vague as they say an adult could go to jail for showing Serenity to a 17-year-old, let alone giving them a copy of Call of Duty. The Iowa law is hardly better since someone would have to determine on a case-by-case basis which games would cause a violation and the "offender" would still end up with a friggin' criminal record.
These legislators are just trying to get publicity. I doubt they truly give a rat's ass about videogame content or they would recognize that the ESRB sets some good guidelines and at least reference those standards when constructing their patently unconstitutional laws...
They should. At least then we'd have to suffer only one saccharine sweet ending to a particular story.
I love Futurama but they often emulated the early Simpsons habit of ending each episode with an "awwwww" moment that, to me, didn't fit at all with the rest of the show. The ones that particularly bother me are the "Fry wants Leela" episodes which could be really funny and silly, only to end like they constituted a tragic tale of ill-fated romance. And, let's face it, the main reason Fry wants to be with Leela is because the only three women he knows are Leela, Amy and the old lady from the bus station.
I can't speak to the details of this deal, nor would I personally have any faith in this particular company which has so far taken a lot of money, made a lot of promises and sold exactly nothing.
That said, the idea of a "living room" gaming device for a PC that retains the functionality of a mouse/keyboard combination is a good one. With the increasing proliferation of high-definition television sets, it's looking better and better for the PC being hooked up to the same display as DVD players, game consoles, etc. It's going to be particularly compelling as the [true] 1920x1080 displays come down in price and become more common (Costco has already sold 37" LCD displays at this resolution for about $1,500 which is a nice size at a nice price). Even a 720p (1280x720) screen offers enough resolution for most gamers, especially when new games often force a resolution drop because of video card limitations.
Again, I don't have first-hand knowledge of the "Phantom" controller but it was the one thing that the people who did attend Infinium demos agreed was a solid product.
Oddly enough, I frequented that forum back then (assuming you're referring to the same incident a couple [few?] years back) and, in fact, was banned for a short time because I took a shot at Kara and chose my words poorly. The fundamental difference to my mind was that I was actually responding to something she did or said (it's been so long I don't remember the details) and wasn't just trying to be an asshole.
I actually thought about that after I wrote the above post and realized that I probably should have mentioned it "in the interest of full disclosure." It just didn't occur to me right away because I find the two instances to be very different, and, of course, in that long-ago incident I wasn't talking "behind [anyone's] back" - just as now, my name (both handle and real) is right there. Ill admit, though, that my horse is not too very high and my home, though mostly solid, has plenty of glass.
It's one thing to take potshots at satirists who have demonstrated they're always up for a fight and often do assholish (but IMO funny) bits in their comics. It's quite another to take shots at their wives. The fact that the above people who did so posted anonymously shows cowardice, though maybe it shows shame as well which would at least indicate the presence of some kind of conscience. In any case, it's completely uncool.
Both the article and the summary are poorly worded. As I understood it, Cliffy was making the point that games are expensive compared to the books, movies, etc. In other words, he wasn't the one saying that gamers need to pay more.
Whatever happened to any publicity=good publicity?
What happened is that big companies have a constant publicity trickle all the time, so they really don't need outsiders "helping" them with the process. In this case, Wizard has a policy regarding how cards are revealed prior to an expansion hitting store shelves. If they thought it was a good idea to reveal more and do it earlier, they'd do it themselves. Thus, if someone is crapping on their business plan, they're going to get pissed. One negative result might be that their fans get all the information far earlier than usual and end up less excited about the product when it finally comes to market - "Oh, yeah, I remember those cards from a sneak preview last year. Are they finally coming out?"
Another big business example: McDonald's is publicized nearly everywhere, nearly all the time. They pay big money for radio spots, billboards, TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc. They have no need for extra national publicity about a new hamburger they're going to start selling in six months; they've already got a marketing plan ready to implement. All that an early revelation can accomplish is to a) dilute the eventual interest in their new product and/or b) allow a competitor to release a similar product earlier.
"To turn off my TV installation would mean separately switching off the television itself, the video recorder, the DVD player and the digital TV decoder." "...although in an average week I watch less than one hour's television."
Why would someone who averages less than an hour per week of television need all those devices, much less find it inconvenient to turn them off and on? And then on top of that, you're thinking about buying a new TV? Something's wrong there...
Relax. This same AC troll (at least according to posting pattern and writing style) has been posting an anti-360 rant in every "next-gen" topic. I've come to find him pretty entertaining, especially since the posts aren't just cut&paste jobs like the "Netcraft says BSD is dead" stuff. :)
I'll probably buy all three, but it seems like a long shot to me that Microsoft will pull ahead of Sony if the PS3 manages to hit store shelves before June.
What are the chances of Sony hitting the market in the second quarter? I haven't seen a single report of a hands-on PS3 experience (meaning press demos), something that one would expect several months before the console hits the market. As far as I know, there still hasn't even been a picture of the finalized controller that was supposedly undergoing revision due to the extreme distaste people had for the boomerang-type controllers we've seen before. I know that the speculation has been that the console will release in Japan this spring but without any news from Sony I wonder more and more if that isn't a pipe dream.
I guess it doesn't matter that much to me since I don't buy consoles at launch time anyway due to the combination of price and inevitably sparse game selection. I didn't even buy a DS until Meteos came out and that system was [obviously] tiny in cost compared to these fancypants new home consoles.
I was heavily into Commodore 64 gaming back then but I bought a Nintendo because I saw Dragon Warrior at a friend's house. I bought a Nintendo and Dragon Warrior, finished the game twice, then immediately got rid of the NES. I loved that game but the Commodore kept me too busy to consider keeping the Nintendo and letting it gather dust. :)
If my government "suggested" I stay inside with the intent of putting me under house arrest (as opposed to suggesting I stay inside during some kind of actual emergency) without the benefit of trial, of course I'd still step outside and, no, I wouldn't we be afraid. This is because I'm not worried that government agents are going to shoot me, beat me or imprison me if they're so unconcerned that they aren't bothering to initiate legal proceedings.
When folks like you make comments like that, it confirms my opinion that fully subsidized psychiatric care should be priority number one when it comes to health care...
A and men. Slashdotters use phrases like "groupthink," "Joe Six-Pack" and the like, usually pretending that they aren't insulting people. Using the word "groupthink" in this context implies that people who like Firefly only feel that way because "everyone" on the Interweb says it's super cool.
Me, I'm one of those oddities who liked the show from the first episode aired despite Fox showing episodes out of order. Then again, I also liked Friends which it seemed like every tool on the Interweb hammered constantly. So, I wonder where I would fit in with the supposed "groupthink" regarding television?
It's all part of what has become a generally accepted mode of thinking by many who talk about entertainment on ye olden Interweb: "I thought [insert videogame/movie/music/etc. here] sucked, and anyone who liked it sucks."
I've got to admire your dedication, Mr. AC. You manage to post an anti-Xbox [360] rant in every topic about next-generation consoles, and they're not all cut&paste jobs. You're still a trolling tool, but at least you're making a real effort!
I doubt Microsoft or Apple would support XP on an Intel Mac anyway.
Why? This is the question I've been asking myself while reading this topic: Why shouldn't Microsoft release a version of Windows specifically designed to run on Intel-based Mac products (dual-booting automagically), with full support for games, hardware, etc.? After all, Microsoft doesn't make any money when Intel or AMD sells a chip; they make money when someone sells a PC with Windows installed. And, presumably, they wouldn't have to change the base Windows code significantly (if at all) to get it running so the cost (production - I'm sure it would sell at the same price as MCE) of this new product would be minimal.
Microsoft, in theory, shouldn't care on what system you're running Windows as long as you pay them money to do so. The only "good" reason they wouldn't make Windows for a Mac is if they have an agreement with Apple not to do so or (as was the case before now) if they considered the market too small and the PCs too different for development to be worthwhile.
Considering the fact that I've seen videos previewing WoW from 2001, I'd say the $50 price tag for the box is to recoup the 3+ years of development costs. The $15 per month is paying for server bandwidth and continued development on the game.
:)
Nowhere in there do you mention profit, something I'm sure is present in both the box and subscription prices.
As you found out, there are indeed PCs out there being sold with no AGP or PCI-E slot. Another example is the [HP] Compaq lineup, while the HP-branded computers from the same company tend to have upgradeable graphics. I suspect you'd find similar results from any major manufacturer in their cheap PCs.
Really, though, it's probably a good idea for them since they often also ship these PCs with power supplies insufficient to drive a high-end graphics card. While folks might end up annoyed that they can't upgrade the graphics card, it might be even worse if they plugged a brand new card in and their system completely stopped working.
I just resisted the temptation to get very snarky. No applause, please; the warm feeling inside is enough.
Anyway, you're talking about top-of-the-line video cards, cards that are $300 to $500 when they're NOT sold by a company that places a premium on style and raises their prices accordingly. It's also worth noting that the x1600 chipset is going to run cooler than those you mentioned, which is vital for a small all-in-one (even the power supply is in there - no outboard brick) unit.
Anyone who buys an iMac knows that they're not getting a gaming powerhouse. If someone wanted a top-flight gaming PC s/he would buy an x86 system with a serious graphics card or, if a Mac aficionado, a PowerMac - perhaps holding off until the Intel chips get in the latter, on the off-chance that running Windows and getting THAT gaming goodness would be possible.
How can you assume that they would continue to be competitive throughout the next year? What if one makes a huge blunder and the other pulls ahead? What if one comes out with a great new product and thoroughly trounces the other's sales? If you knew they were going to remain competitive into the next year, you have foresight into the future that many would envy.
:)
Apparently, you missed GP's point. Your "what if" questions could be turned into interesting and at least semi-specific predictions. As it stands, the idea that a strong #2 company is going to give the #1 company "fits" isn't really a prediction at all. Now, if AMD had been very weak in 2004 the prediction might have been interesting. As it is, it just comes off as filler.
A similar misunderstanding occurs on the RIAA issue. Nobody thought that the RIAA was suddenly going to stop filing lawsuits against copyright violators, thus Cringely's prediction is somewhere between obvious and completely pointless. Whether the RIAA should stop suing or not is another question altogether.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoy Cringely's articles (when I can understand them - he sometimes goes off on minutiae in which I have little interest) and his predictions are usually entertaining. A lot of that comes from his writing skills, though, because some of his predictions (like the two discussed here) seem to have been written merely to extend the length of the article.
--spelling errors corrected in quote above because I ran a spellcheck and assumed the errors were mine, and I'm loathe to re-edit.
Could someone please mod me into oblivion? I read the article again (I thought I read it the first time) and, of course, it mentions Animal Crossing. I have GOT to get new eyeballs that read without skipping sentences.
I wonder why they don't mention Animal Crossing: Wild World? It's gone over 1.5 million in Japan alone and, unlike the non-Nintendogs titles in the article, AC is available in the US as well (apparently, despite the fact that I've visted AC towns in the UK, AC won't be officially released in the EU until March).
You're kidding, right? Gmail (yes, it's still "limited," in beta, but it's beyond easy to get hooked up) offers more storage and costs nothing. Yahoo! Mail offers a gig for free as well (you can get 2GB and POP access for $20/year).
I have no doubt that there are other features (particularly integration with commonly used Mac software) that are desirable, but paying $99 per year for the online storage is a terrible deal.